Refined Cut

16 Jun Refined Cut

To all lovers of green, we feel your pain– and excitement. Anyone who grows plants, bushes or trees knows that with summer coming, it’s time to sharpen your pruners. Our gardens in Santa Fe are in full bloom and growing like monsters in a sci-fi movie.

The challenge with pruning, as well as editing presentations, is hitting the sweet spot. The goal is for the “prunee” not to show the cuts, but remove just enough content so the talk or plant looks beautiful. Another similarity is that judicious pruning encourages growth, like receiving questions after your elegantly edited presentation or being asked to deliver another one.

With practice and intention, you will master cutting the chaff, including lengthy stories, tiresome data, or burdensome graphs. Your talk will feel as though the audience is walking through gardens in Provence, absorbing the yellow, lavender, and gray-green colors of a tastefully designed landscape. Then the audience will ask how you managed to say so much in so little time.